Archery bows have been known in the past which employ various pulleys and cams mounted on the bow to provide the archer with a mechanical advantage in drawing back the bowstring. Such bows are referred to as compound bows and are advantageous over conventional bows in that the compound bow increases the energy stored by the bow while reducing the force required to maintain the bow in a fully drawn position. For instance, a compound bow is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,285, issued to Simonds et al. The bow in Simonds et al. includes a handle portion, two projecting limbs mounted on the handle portion, and a bowstring mounted at each end to the tips of the limbs. The bowstring is wound about a pair of pulley assemblies, each of the pulley assemblies being mounted on one of the tips of the limbs to provide the mechanical advantage previously discussed.
However, such conventional compound bow designs are not completely satisfactory in several respects. First, the pulley assemblies represent substantial mass and inertia added to the tips of the limbs. This mass retards and attenuates the movement of the limbs from the fully drawn position to a relaxed position as the arrow is released. Further, the bow tips have an undesirable tendency to rebound after releasing the arrow. Thus, the bow is less efficient than otherwise might be the case. In conventional compound bows, the bowstring is usually connected at either end to one or more cables and to various pulleys to provide the mechanical advantage for the bow. However, while the bowstring is aligned with the centerline of the bow, the cable or cables must be deflected from the centerline to accommodate the arrow nocked on the bowstring. This may be accomplished by lateral spacing of the pulleys engaging the bowstring with respect to the pulleys engaging the cables. However, this arrangement typically results in a side thrust imparted to the arrow, reducing accuracy and arrow speed. Alternatively, cable guards may be used to deflect the cable or cables. However, this also results in a side loading on the arrow and additionally increases the friction on the cables, reducing the overall efficiency of the bow.